Westridge Wildcat News
November 13, 2020
Message from the Principal
Hello Wildcat Families,
Beginning Monday, November 16, Music and PE schedules will be similar to your child's STEM routine in that they will have one synchronous (live) and one asynchronous (non-live) day each week. Music and PE classes on Mondays and Tuesdays will be synchronous and Music and PE classes on Wednesdays and Fridays will be asynchronous. All asynchronous classes will be posted online by 8 am. STEM classes will remain the same. Here's a link to the Specials Update. Thank you for your support and flexibility as we continue to navigate online learning.
Enjoy your weekend!
Principal Montgomery
Reminder: New Multi-synchronous Schedules on Wednesdays beginning November 18
Elementary Student Wednesday Schedule
8:00-8:30: Synchronous AM Cohort English Language Arts structured connection and review
8:35-9:05: Synchronous AM Cohort Math structured connection and review
12:45-1:15: Synchronous PM Cohort English Language Arts structured connection and review
1:20-1:50: Synchronous PM Cohort Math structured connection and review
Elementary Student Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday Schedule
8:00-10:45 a.m.: Synchronous AM Cohort English Language Arts & Math
12:45-3:30 p.m.: Synchronous PM Cohort English Language Arts & Math
Multi-synchronous Wednesdays will allow students time to have structured connection and review with their teachers, practice skills and receive reteaching with teachers and support staff and build relationships with their peers. This change is intended to provide additional support, reduce screen stress and allow catch up time. Participation is expected and attendance will be taken as usual. Please review Teacher Week-at-a-Glance for updated information.
Note that Thursdays are no longer early release PLC days. Students will be in class from 8am - 10:45am for AM cohort and 12:45pm - 3:30pm for PM cohort. You can view the weekly schedule here.
Counselor's Corner
Dear Westridge Families,
This month through our Social Emotional Learning (SEL) lessons, we will be introducing the character trait of GRATITUDE. Gratitude has been shown to be one of the number one ways to reduce anxiety, increase happiness, & improve relationships. The practice of gratitude is a tool that both grounds us and also inspires hope, peace, and joy. For when we are grateful, we are stronger to “be the good” to our world.
We want to make sure we share with students that Gratitude is 1) a choice that we get to make over and over again on where we put our focus and 2) does not always have to be about something positive. We can feel grateful even for tough or challenging things in our life! There is plenty of research that shows a strong connection between Gratitude and reduced anxiety, increased happiness, and better relationships. Over the course of the month, we will talk about amazing people who demonstrate Gratitude in various ways. We will talk about what we are grateful for in ourselves and in others. And we will even find Gratitude in some things we would not expect to be thankful for!
The definition students will be learning this month is Gratitude: choosing to notice and appreciate things in our life, things in others, and things in the world.
Here are links for extension activities to explore GRATITUDE further as a family:
K-2 Gratitude Family Letter (English) 3-5 Gratitude Family Letter (English)
K-2 Gratitud para Familias (En Español) 3-5 Gratitud para Familias (En Español)
Asynchronous SEL lessons will be posted weekly by 8 a.m. each Monday morning on Google Classroom. Students may complete the one lesson at any time that week.
Westridge Counselor (K-2nd): K-2 Social Emotional learning- join code = 76wnd6p
Invite link: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUzODYzNDMwODgz?cjc=76wnd6p
Westridge Counselor (3rd-5th) 3-5 Social Emotional LEarning - join code = q53zivt
Invite link: https://classroom.google.com/c/MTUzODYzNDMwOTI3?cjc=q53zivt
If you or your student would like to request a meeting or phone call with me, please do so here: Request to Talk to Mr. Kieser 2020-2021It is linked in our Google Classrooms and on my Clever page. I can also be reached via email at kieserg@loswego.k12.or.us.
Together,
Gary Kieser
Westrige School Counselor
Coffee & Connection
Our next coffee will be offered on Wednesday, December 2nd from 9:00am - 9:30am. This is an informal time to just connect, ask questions, and learn together as we go through the school year. This next session, join myself and Mrs. Bates, our RTI Coordinator through the link below. Bring a cup of coffee, or just call in and let's connect!
ID: 89488956670
Password: 537256
(US) +1 929-205-6099
Passcode: 537256
OBOB at Westridge!
Westridge's Oregon Battle of the Books Competition is going all Virtual this year!
Registration:
It is now time to register your interested student. Please click the link here and fill in all parts of the registration and waiver / permission slip sections. Registrations are due by Friday, December 11th. https://tinyurl.com/wrOBOB21
What is OBOB?
The Oregon Battle of the Books is a reading and trivia competition that serves as a statewide celebration of literacy and good books. 3rd to 5th grade students form teams of three to five members, then read and study from a common list of 16 books selected by the State OBOB committee each year. Teams square off in a series of "Battles" to show off how much they have learned by answering questions about the books. Watch out if you get a question wrong -- the other team then gets a chance to steal the points! Find this year's book list here: https://www.oregonbattleofthebooks.org/2020-2021-obob-book-titles/
How does OBOB work at Westridge?
- The OBOB competition at Westridge is funded by the PTSO, run by parent volunteers, and coordinated with Librarian Mrs. Calbreath and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade teachers
- Students form teams of 3 to 5 players in the Fall and begin reading the books
- Parent volunteers may hold voluntary virtual practice sessions with the kids in January and February
- The battles will be held virtually during the period of time between AM and PM sessions in February and/or March via Zoom or other conferencing technology
- In each "Battle," two teams square off and answer questions in turn. Note that only a maximum of 4 players participate in each battle round. Teams of 5 will need to set a rotation
- The highest scoring teams in preliminary play move on to knock-out rounds to crown a school champion
- This year's competition is open to all 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students regardless of whether your child is enrolled in LO Online or the Hybrid model
- Please look for a communication from your student's teacher for more details!
Sample Student Schedule for Distance Learning
Click on the image below to utilize this schedule for your child!
PTSO Meeting: December 7th
PTSO General Meeting
Monday, December 7th
6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
JOIN WITH ZOOM:
Meeting ID: 894 7093 9593
Passcode: 312117
With the holidays quickly approaching, we hope you’ll be just as excited as we are about this great discount being offered to our Westridge community! Use promo code FUNDRAISEWESTRIDGE to receive 20% off holiday cards and gifts through minted.com. 15% of your purchase amount will be donated back to Westridge PTSO! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Your Public Library is Coming to Visit on Thursday, November 19th!
With all of you in mind, we've continued to fill our library shelves with great new books and have been trying hard to figure out how to get them into your hands. We are so excited to start visiting your school library on "holds pick up day" once a month. In November we will have a few giveaways and information about how you can continue to use the public library. And beginning in December we'll bring books for you to check out, library card applications and more. See you soon and keep on reading!
PTSO News - Support Westridge Through Amazon Smile
As the holiday shopping season begins, please remember that supporting Westridge is easy with the AmazonSmile app! With every eligible purchase, AmazonSmile donates 0.5% to the school - same products, same prices, no cost to you! As every dollar helps benefit our teachers and students, please make sure you go to your account settings and select Westridge Elementary School PTSO as your charity of choice!
Westridge Elementary Fall Scholastic ONLINE Book Fair!
November 6th - 19th
Please feel free to share this link with family and friends:
LOHS Black Student Union Mentorship Program:
Tech Support:
Tech Information Sessions
LOSD hosted two Tech Information Sessions covering the “how tos'' for getting started with distance learning. The session recordings and presentations are posted on the district site under Resources/Tech Support for Families.
Tech Support Ticket
A majority of tech concerns can be resolved by submitting a Tech Support ticket -- the link is on all school and district homepages for easy access to help with passwords, log-ins, hardware fixes, etc.
Google Classroom Guardianship
By now all parents and guardians should have received an email requesting you to accept guardianship of your student's Google Classroom. If you need assistance with this request, please submit a request through the Tech Support button. Note: accepting guardianship simply gives you the option of selecting how often you would like to receive summaries (weekly, daily, or no summary) of your student's Google Classroom activity. Only student accounts have access to Google Classroom.
ODE State Assessment Notice
Westridge Elementary
Email: kari.montgomery@loswego.k12.or.us
Website: https://www.losdschools.org/wr
Location: 3400 Royce Way, Lake Oswego, OR, USA
Phone: (503) 534-2371